The Civil War Dossiers – Captain America and Ant-Man

There’s a lot of questions being asked just before the third Captain America film, Civil War, hits cinemas next week. Why is everyone fighting? Does Captain America really have perfectly-punchable teeth? Does Hawkeye have a counter-boxing glove arrow? The most important question however is the obvious one: Who will win?

Now, there probably be some sort of stalemate reached in the film, when the heroes decide to stop being twats and get the hell off the airport runaway so that normal humans can experience the joys of last class on an airliner. But who’s going to win, if you take out all of that nonsense? Who has the best selection of fighters on their side?

We’re analysing that all this week, as we take a look at each fighter on either side. Naturally, we’re only examining their cinematic counterparts, because the comic book versions are already over-powered demigods. Let’s get this feature rolling then, with a pairing of the biggest and smallest heroes fighting for freedom and liberty.

After being enhanced by the super soldier serum, Steve Rogers was reborn with physical strengths that far exceeded that of any regular human, ranging from increased intelligence, speed, agility, stamina, reflexes, durability and dexterity. The Super Soldier Serum was responsible not only for granting Rogers peak human potential, but it also amplified qualities that were already present inside of him.

Or as Dr Erksine put it, it made a good man…great.

Thanks to the serum, Rogers also an enhanced healing factor that will have him back in action much faster than that of an ordinary human being. But that’s not all. After serving a lengthy tour of duty on the battlefields of World War 2, Captain America is a seasoned soldier and a leader of men. Having survived the streets of New York, Rogers quickly learnt several martial arts such as American boxing, Aikido, Judo, Jiu Jutsu, Taekwondo, Muay Thai, Savate and Wing Chun.

Captain America combined all of these disciplines into a style of combat unique to him, that utilised his enhanced gifts and indestructible shield to augment even further to deadly effect and utilised against the likes of Loki, George Batroc, the Winter Soldier and an entire elevator of HYDRA assassins.

While Captain America is more than capable of using various guns and other ordinance in battle, he usually prefers to let his Vibranium shield do the talking for him. Made of a rare alloy that can absorb vibrations,

Captain America has learnt how to wield it with pinpoint accuracy, using it both as a projectile and a close-quarters melee weapon. Able to bounce it off of multiple enemies, Captain America is even able to calculate exactly how hard to throw his unstoppable shield so that it always boomerangs back towards him.

After years spent stopping the HYDRA and Nazi forces of the Axis armies, Steve Rogers also learnt various tactical skills, marksman abilities with various weapons and how to speak French. But above all else, it’s Captain America’s ability to lead and inspire, that make him the hero that various other gods and superhumans would gladly follow into any battle.

An unbreakable will and an indomitable spirit, Captain America is a symbol to not only his nation of birth, but the entire world.

A thief, a housebreaker and a wanted criminal. But give him a chance, and you’ll find that Scott Lang can also be a hero. A former professional cat burglar who served time behind bars, Scott Lang just wanted to provide for his family and help the common man, but ran foul of the law in his less-than-legal methods of stealing from those people he considered to be criminals.

After his prison sentence in San Quentin ended, Lang became involved with scientist Hank Pym, taking up his mantle and becoming the latest Ant Man, a hero who went on to prove that size matters not.

Already an accomplished thief before he became Ant-Man, Lang was a creative thinker and a parkour expert who was capable of infiltrating various locations and out-thinking his way out of most tight jams that he found himself in. Lang is also an expert computer programmer and cyber criminal, with his stay in prison giving him the time to pursue a master’s degree in electrical engineering which he combined with his unconventional thinking to help him escape the Quantum Realm.

After training with Hope van Dyne, Lang also learnt how to finally throw a punch, with a crash course of martial arts that mixed Muay Thai, Brazilian jiu jitsu, judo, and aikido into a unique fighting style when combined with his Ant-Man abilities, as seen when he defeated Darren Cross and even the Falcon.

As Ant-Man, Lang has access to Pym Particles, size-shifting molecules that allow him to shrink down to the size of an ant. While he may be smaller, he still has his regular-size strength but focused on a smaller scale and making him the equivalent of a human bullet. When combined with rapid shrinking and enlarging, Lang can momentarily achieve super-human levels of strength that send trained guards flying.

But beyond that however, Lang can also control insects with the use of radio and electric waves processed through his helmet. With this manipulation, Lang can summon and control hordes of insects to do his bidding. To top it all off, Lang can also use Pym Particle discs to shrink or enlarge targets that he attaches them to.

He may be the smallest man on the battlefield, but Ant-Man is the biggest hero around.